Pre-season fitness testing in elite soccer: integrating the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test into the weekly microcycle

Buchheit M. Pre-season fitness testing in elite soccer: integrating the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test into the weekly microcycle. Sport Performance & Science Reports, 2020, June, #111, V1

Full text here

Fitness testing is an important part of the pre-season player screening process. Depending on cultures and preferences, various submaximal or maximal tests are used in soccer, including continuous linear, continuous non-linear or intermittent non-linear (e.g., Yo-Yo and 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Tests, 30-15IFT) protocols. Among these, the 30-15IFT remains the only test that can mimic the physiological demands of most team and racket sports, and be used i) as a performance measure (peak test running speed, V_IFT), ii) to assess a players’ locomotor profile and iii) to improve high-intensity interval training (HIIT) prescription.

But a critical question for the practitioner remains: when is the best time to implement the 30-15IFT within the pre-season phase?

The aim of our paper, published in SPSR, was to describe a simple and effective way to program the 30-15IFT in relation to both session and weekly loads in an elite academy setting.

Figure 1. Physiological responses to the 30-15IFT based on the HIIT Science terminology (6), for an average test performance (peak speed reached, V_IFT) of 19.5 km/h. HR: heart rate. TD: total distance. HSR: high-speed running (>19.8 km/h), MW: mechanical work, RPE: rate of perceived exertion (0-10 scale). The range of values provided are directly linked to test performance (i.e., the faster the V_ITF, the longer the test and the greater the load), but also reflect individual variability in the response to a similar V_IFT.

Figure 2. Locomotor (GPS) responses to the test in an elite soccer team (early pre-season).

Figure 3. Within-session example integrating the 30-15IFT. Drills 1: low-intensity possession games (with at least 6 to 8 players per team to decrease mechanical work. Drills 2: Tactical-oriented work such as directed games (the coach regularly stops the play to provide feedback to different player lines or different teams) or set pieces (for a TD of 3-4 km, no HSR and MW 20 a.u). Top up: additional 50-200m of HSR with low metabolic demands (HIIT Type 6 (6)) such as 2-4 x box-to-box runs within 12-15s interspersed with >30s of rest, with more repetitions for those not having performed above 19km/h at on the test.

Figure 4. Heart rate and locomotor load responses (with standard deviations) to the 7 pitch sessions of a first week microcycle in an elite academy. Non-pitch-based gym sessions were also programmed on some but not all days. The actual load of sessions 1-3 can be considered as low-to-moderate (low sRPE) in relation to typical in-season sessions (Table 1). The 30-15IFT was programmed on D4. The proportion of the session that arises from the 30-15IFT is shown by the pink arrows and circle. TD: total distance. HSR: high-speed running (>19.8 km/h), MW: mechanical work, sRPE: session rate of perceived exertion (0-10 scale). The main specific session contents are shown on the top of each day. SSG: small-sided games. Type 4 HIIT refers to the following HIIT Science terminology, and specifically to a sequence that involves a high contribution of both the aerobic and anaerobic (lactic) systems together with a strong neuromuscular load.